Chapter Text
They had all anticipated the feast to be a tense, dull affair.
How wrong they were.
It was at first. The great hall was stiff and quiet. The scratches of cutlery made the most sound and between the vampires and the Belmonts, suspicious glances and sneers were exchanged.
Trevor heard raised voices and spotted a red-haired vampire baring his fangs at one of his cousins. He was already getting up to intervene when the same dark-skinned man he'd seen earlier with Doctor Tepes appeared seemingly out of nowhere. With a firm push, he backed the vampire off, and within a few words, had Trevor's cousin laughing and returning to his table.
When Trevor glanced back, the vampire was nowhere to be found.
But it seemed that the first crash was needed to break the ice. Chatter rose, higher than it’d been before. Members of other groups, witches and speakers and whoever else made the guest list he’d grudgingly looked over, sat between the major groups, easing them into conversation.
The vampires and Belmonts stayed on separate sides of the hall but eventually, the curses stopped and no one tried to cross the invisible line for a confrontation.
Eventually, he saw cups being filled and jugs passed around and then, whether it was the cups of ale, blood or the positioning of the damn moon, every individual in the great hall was in an uproar.
His family and clan were shouting in delight, their voices carrying above the room as they clinked their goblets together. Their laughter filled the air, echoing off the walls. To not be glaring or instigating fights with the vampires they either had to be extremely confident in their newly found peace or piss drunk.
It wasn’t the former.
Their guard was still up of course. Trevor could see his selected family members moving around, their movements sober as they tracked the hall with narrowed eyes. Every so often, their hands would hover near their concealed weapons, a subtle reminder that the threat was never far from their minds.
The vampires, usually so composed, cackled with laughter, their smooth voices adding harmony to the loud cheer of the hall. They raised their cups, filled with what Trevor could only imagine was blood. It made him sick to realise. He almost protested at it but his mother caught his arm and shook her head lightly.
“No blood,” she whispered.
It calmed him immediately. Still, it didn’t mean he liked them regardless. They moved with a fluid grace that Trevor usually only saw when hunting. It made his instincts rear up.
The Speakers, ever the diplomats, wove around speaking to every species, all of which followed their lead when they arrived.
If one took away the circumstances of how it occurred and what exactly was in the room with them, Trevor could almost call the celebration fun.
The long banquet tables groaned under the weight of spreads of food and drink, with servants bustling to keep the guests’ plates and cups full. The flickering lights cast a warm glow over the scene, making the whole celebration feel almost like it was a real wedding.
If only he and his husband shared the same energy.
Since their separation at the altar, they hadn’t spoken a word. Their mothers had ushered them into their seats together at the centre of the long table overlooking the guests. Their families had sat on either side of them after exchanging tense pleasantries and began to talk amongst themselves.
Trevor and Adrian had only shared one miserable glance before they were swept away in conversation.
Now, the heat of the hall began to bother him. He’d loosened his collar, cursing as he contemplated removing the damn cape too.
Adrian seemed fine, the arshole. All prim and proper and properly insulated. But he barely even felt the heat, Trevor knew. He’d read up entirely on Dhampir's since news of the engagement had reached him. He wasn’t gonna let himself be trapped in this shit without knowing his way out.
A hand settled on his forearm and Trevor jolted. His mother was looking at him expectantly.
“Uh, yes?” He tried.
She gave him a flat look.
Apparently not.
“I was telling Adrian about your run-in with the Malphas.”
“Oh.”
By the look on her face, she expected him to give more than that.
“Yeah,” he cleared his throat. “It was unexpected.”
“You must be skilled to take down a creature of that pedigree.” That was the second time the Dhampir had spoken to him and as much as Trevor liked his pretty voice, the words lit a fire in him.
“I’m a Belmont,” he drawled. “Or have you forgotten?”
A pause. “I have not.”
He scoffed lightly. “Then you realise I’m skilled enough to take it down.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed. “I was not trying to imply you’ve a lack of skill. Quite the opposite in fact.”
Trevor didn’t respond, already turning away from him in annoyance. His mother shot him another look and even Ann was frowning. He was just about to excuse himself to find Sypha when a softer voice spoke, “Trevor, it is good to see you again.”
He froze.
“I’m sorry I could not find you before the ceremony. I was quite occupied with the day's events. I barely had a moment to myself.”
He turned back, smiling at the woman as she leaned over Adrian’s side. “That’s alright Doctor Tepes.”
“Ah. Perhaps you should call me Lisa. We are family now.”
Everyone in the general vicinity froze at the casual reminder. Trevor did too and if it were anyone else he would’ve told them to fuck off. But this was Lisa Tepes and had he not spent a good day with her, tending to her wounds and listening to her speak, he would’ve never known she was genuine.
And so he relaxed, shrugging. “It seems a slight to your title.”
“Do you think I make Adrian call me Doctor too?” She chucked at that. “Or him, me?”
That got his attention and he spoke without thinking. “You’re a doctor?”
Adrian blinked, probably surprised he was directing a question to him after their last interaction. “I am.”
“Are you as good as your mother?”
That made her laugh and Trevor dared to chance a quick glance at Dracula who was smiling? Was that a smile or a look of disgust?
Adrian seemed surprised at the quip but didn’t let it stump him.
“Not quite.” He admitted with dignity. How does someone do that, what the fuck. “Though I have been away for some while so perhaps I can study under her tutelage again for now.”
He would’ve left it there. A part of him wanted to. But. “Where’d you go?”
Another blink. “A few places. I wanted to explore medicines in rural areas. They’ve different types of procedures that are, in some cases, quicker than the way we do things here. That’s due to their lack of materials, they have no choice but to adapt to their surroundings. And then at times, they do so well.”
“So you wanted to understand how they do it? Why? You have the materials don’t you?” They were in his huge castle that fucking teleported. He had to have them.
“I do, yes. But countless others out there don’t. If there’s a way to receive things regardless of cost, then it should be shared, yes? Regardless, I was also able to help them where they were lacking as well. It was not a useless venture.” Gold eyes bore accusingly into him.
“That’s— I never said it was.” Adrian merely pursed his lips, going back to cut at his food with stupid, graceful cuts.
“How would you know?” He heard him mumble. “You’re just a hunter.”
Annoyance flashed in him as he heard the words.
“We have some different books on medicine too.” From the corner of his eye, he saw his mother turn sharply to that. The Belmont Hold was still a secret and Trevor was annoyed to think they thought he’d give it away that easily.
“Oh?” Adrian looked interested.
“Yes, but I’ll admit I’m not all sure what they’re on. I was more interested in other things.” He shrugged.
“Monster hunting?”
“You say it like it’s a bad thing.”
“Isn’t it?” Adrian arched an eyebrow. “It’s a rather… narrow focus, don’t you think? You spend all your time killing things you barely understand.”
“And you spend all your time studying things you can barely control,” Trevor shot back, his voice hardening. “At least I know what I’m up against.”
“Do you? Or do you just swing your sword and hope for the best?”
Trevor’s grip tightened on his fork. “Better that than hide in a castle and hope your daddy protects you.”
Adrian’s eyes flashed with something dangerous, but he kept his voice calm, almost taunting. “And yet, here you are, sitting at my table. With an entire clan to protect you. Perhaps you’re not as fearless as you pretend to be.”
Trevor leaned forward, his eyes locked on Adrian’s. “Or maybe I’m just not afraid of you.”
Adrian held his gaze, bright and gold. “We’ll see.”
— —
It felt like hours had passed. He and Adrian kept exchanging tense comments, shooting mocking words as if the lack of physical violence they couldn’t exact could be replaced by words instead.
It always came back to the same topic.
“If you had an inkling of what we did–”
“You kill things. How spectacular.”
“As if you don’t drink blood yourself, you hypocritical dick .”
“Here you go again, speaking on that which you do not understand.”
“I understand.”
“No.”
“No? You—”
“All Belmont’s presume to know vampires. You think your hunts have provided a base level of understanding that sees through us. You’re wrong."
Trevor clenched his jaw. “I know enough.”
“Which is?”
“I can’t trust you.”
To his surprise, Adrian nodded. “You’re right. And I don’t trust you.” He smirked. “That’s perhaps the only truthful thing you’ve said since we met.”
“Fuck off.”
“So eloquent, as all Belmont’s are.”
“You keep bringing up my family like that—”
“What? What will you do to me? We’re married now, Trevor.” His eyes were bright, and for some reason, he seemed less hostile than he did a second ago. “You can’t harm me.”
“No. But I can make your life a living hell.” He smirked at Adrian’s expression. “It’s a fine skill to master in a home of annoying relatives.”
“A fine skill.” He repeated drily.
“Don’t be surprised.”
“Not exactly. You are a Belmont as you said.” But this time there was simply snark around the name.
And Trevor, because he’s an idiot who can never control himself, spits out, “Well don’t hold it against me because I guess you’re now one too.”
They both froze. Adrian’s grip on his cup is white-knuckled, and he looked at Trevor seriously, his mouth parted.
That was the wrong thing to say. They’re enemies, of course , he’s holding it against him. And worse yet, no one was mentioning their damn tied family tree for a chance of peace but Trevor just went and he fucked it up just like he usually—
“I suppose you’re right.”
That wasn’t what he expected him to say.
“What?” He croaked.
“In all technicalities, I’m a Belmont. And you are a Tepes.”
He gaped, trying to figure out if he really heard what he did. Adrian’s expression didn’t change, waiting for an answer. He did hear correctly.
“I guess.” His throat was dry.
He didn’t know what else to say and they lapsed into silence, poking at their meals. Though, neither of them turned away for a different conversation.
The silence itched at him. For some reason, Trevor wanted Adrian to face him again. He wanted to speak to him, even if it meant receiving that damn accusing look. It was most likely since he’d gotten the last word. Yes, that was unacceptable and not a Belmont trait.
“We kept our family names.”
Adrian responded immediately. “We did.”
He struggled to stay on this line of conversation. It was too much. Too… intimate. He didn’t fucking know why. He shouldn’t have brought it up again.
They should’ve just kept arguing.
He spoke anyway. “Not much we can do about it now.” He risked a glance aside and saw Adrian staring down at his goblet, face in contemplation.
“You’re right. We have both committed to this. I…” he met his gaze then. “I will respect your family name.”
He gaped, almost wanted to clean his damn ears. Well, shit. Trevor wasn't going to be outdone.
“Thanks. Good to know you’re not really holding it against me.”
“Only as much as you are most likely holding my parentage against me.”
He shifted, uncomfortable at the reminder of Dracula, who was also still sitting a few feet away from them and could probably hear this conversation if he was bothering to.
“Well… Doctor Tepes is great.”
Adrian chuckled and Trevor felt his blood rush at the sight of it. Adrian’s eyes crinkled when he smiled and when his mouth opened that slight bit, Trevor could see the peek of fangs jutting out.
But Adrian’s face fell and he looked at him seriously. “I’ve yet to thank you for what you did for my mother.”
He waved a hand. “Don’t worry about it.”
He frowned. “I understand you may not like words of gratitude but I must express them all the same. Thank you,” he uttered before Trevor could stop him. “You did my family a great service.” He hesitated. “And you’re doing it again.”
Oh, they were not going into that topic. Not here, especially. The jest about family names was enough.
“Again, don’t worry about it.”
Adrian shifted, his mouth opening to speak but Trevor spotted a wave in the crowd and grinned.
He began to rise from his seat, quickly telling his mother he’d spotted Sypha before he stopped to look again.
Adrian was gazing back down at his plate, fingers clenched around the cutlery. He hesitated.
Glancing over, he saw Ann nodding with her head towards Adrian, mouthing something he couldn’t recognise. The rest of the table was tense, his mother hesitant and his brother holding his should’ve-been-a-dull-blade-but-obviously-swapped-for-one-of-his-own butter knife a bit too tightly.
The earth felt shaky beneath him. He wasn’t sure what to do. An hour ago, he would have left Adrian without a second thought. But then…
We have both committed to this.
The family rivalry between them hadn’t disappeared, despite their earlier talk. But now there was this added layer—the fact that they were married, and everyone was holding their breath, waiting for it to somehow work out. Hoping for this fragile peace to hold without their interference.
Trevor swallowed, forcing himself to breathe. Adrian looked up at him, the same confusion and frustration mirrored in his eyes. They were in this together, like it or not, and the pressure to make it work was suffocating.
Fuck.
“Come with me.”
Adrian perked up. “Where?”
“My friend Sypha is here. I haven’t seen her all day.”
Nodding, Adrian followed him around the table and they both dodged the crushing hugs and drunken loud congratulations that threatened to overtake them after every few steps. Drunk indeed.
Thankfully they made it through eventually and Trevor spotted Sypha waiting at a slightly emptier corner of the room.
“Sypha.” He grinned as they approached. Hugging her quickly, Trevor turned back to Adrian who was watching them.
“Adrian,” he stumbled on the name. It was the first time he’d said it out loud and it came out softer than he meant. Adrian didn’t blink at the usage of it though so he hoped nothing seemed obvious. “This is Sypha. She’s a good friend of mine and my family.”
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Adrian rolled out smoothly. Trevor inwardly rolled his eyes. Stuck up prick.
Sypha loved it. “And yours,” she grinned. “I have to say I did not expect you both to be speaking already.”
“We’ve made an effort,” Trevor grumbled.
“Oh I have no doubt it was there on Adrian’s part. Yours though…”
“I’ve been doing fine.” He glanced back at the Dhampir for confirmation and Adrian nodded.
“He’s done his best.”
“Okay, you can fuck off.” Adrian merely smirked and Trevor narrowed his eyes at him. Matches his snark, he remembered.
“My grandfather wanted to speak to you but I told him you’d probably be preoccupied at the feast.”
He nodded. “I’ll see him tomorrow. You’re all still staying right?”
“I am,” she reminded him. “They’ll be leaving tomorrow evening.”
“You won’t be going with them?” Adrian spoke up.
“I’ve decided to stay for a while with the Belmonts. With the current climate,” she shifted awkwardly, “it was considered wise for me to remain with them.”
Adrian, despite Sypha telling him that he and his family were seen as a threat, kept his expression calm. “That would be wise.”
Sypha nodded quickly, obviously relieved at not upsetting the man. That annoyed him a bit. Sypha was his closest friend and if Adrian had a problem with her then they would have a problem. And despite his bad luck in romance even Trevor knew that was a bad way to start off a marriage.
Not that this was a traditional marriage anyway. So maybe some rules could be bent but not this one.
Music started to play behind them and Trevor watched, baffled, as some folk began to dance in the centre of the room. It was mostly the other guests but a few pairs of Belmont’s were near the edge of the group. His lunatic Uncle Mupp was there of course and he froze as he heard the man, stumbling drunk and with a twinkle in his eye, shout for him and Adrian to dance.
They shared a look of horror.
“Oh, fuck no.” Trevor spat and he apologised to Sypha before dragging Adrian by the hand behind him, all but running out of the room.
They’d made it to the end of the hallway until Adrian spoke up again. “Where exactly are we going?”
He stopped. “I’m…not sure.”
“Oh?”
He scowled. “You wanna go back in there and dance for them like a puppet on strings? I won’t stop you but I won’t join you.”
He snorted and even that was an elegant thing. “Of course not. Though I wish you had been more discreet in our leaving.”
“If they thought we’d stay there the whole time, that's their problem.”
“Where else would we go?” He seemed genuinely confused.
“Well,” Trevor started off, “they do all want this marriage to work.”
“That’s the goal.”
“They gave us a ceremony, rings, a feast…”
“All common things, yes.”
“Common, traditional things.” He smirked at Adrian’s puzzled face, having much more fun with this than he should. And shouldn't he be? It was his wedding day, after all. “What else is traditional for the married couple to do once the festivities are done.”
Adrian’s jaw dropped.
“No.”
“Yeah.”
“ No. We are not,” he struggled with the word, disgust mingling in his expression.
“Fucking?” He supplied.
“We are not fucking ,” he seethed. “Why on earth would they think that?”
“I don’t know if you noticed but they’re all pretty drunk and even the vampires are a bit,” he made a face. “How does that work, you lot can’t get drunk.”
“ I can. They on the other hand consume a different drink made by the Fae. It acts as a different pollutant in their bloodstream.”
“Huh. I didn’t know that.”
“I doubt it was special enough to be noted by you Belmonts.”
He shrugged, thinking about the vast hold.
“Regardless,” the Dhampir continued with gritted teeth. “We must go back. We cannot allow them to think we are together.”
“We are together, oh yes I know not like that.” He rolled his eyes. “You wanna go back? Go ahead but I’m staying out here. I’m not dancing for shit. I don’t care what they think of me.” His family knew him better to think he’d sleep with Adrian anyway. And for everyone else… well he didn’t know them so gave a fuck?
He glanced up. “You’re still here.”
Adrian watched him with eyes that seemed to glow in the dark halls. “I am.”
“And?”
He sighed. “Come with me. If we’re going to truant I’d rather it not be in the middle of a hall.”